Holder vows to pursue Times Square suspects abroad

Washington, May 14 (ANI): Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has told a House panel that the Obama administration would use all available resources to bring all those involved in the failed Times Square bombing plot to justice, whether they are in the United States or overseas.

"We now believe that the Pakistan Taliban was responsible for this attempted attack. We are currently working with the authorities in Pakistan on this investigation, and we will use every available resource to make sure that anyone found responsible-whether they be in the United States or overseas, the Washington Post quoted Holder as telling the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Holder's testimony came as federal agents executed new search warrants in the Northeast in connection with the car bomb plot and took at least three people into custody.

The plot failed when the explosives did not detonate and bystanders alerted police to a fire in a parked SUV.

The FBI said agents were searching locations in the Boston area, New York and New Jersey for evidence related to the Times Square investigation.

Holder told the House Judiciary Committee that "several individuals encountered during those searches" have been taken into federal custody for alleged immigration violations. He did not immediately provide further details of the arrests.

Faisal Shahzad, 30, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Pakistan, has been charged with attempting to detonate a homemade bomb in the back of his SUV on a busy Saturday night in Times Square.

An FBI complaint said he admitted his role in the attempted attack and said he had received bomb-making training in a rugged tribal area of his native Pakistan that harbors Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the failed bombing and vowed to carry out other attacks in the United States.

Investigators are looking into possible links between Shahzad and the Pakistani Taliban and another militant group. (ANI)